


String of Fate

by rinthegreat



Series: Random Hat Prompts [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M, Romance, Science Fiction, Unrequitted Love, ficgift, i'm not even sorry, it's a sci fi addition to the canon if that makes sense, makorin - Freeform, mutual unrequitted love actually, sort of, sort of prompt fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 20:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2081835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinthegreat/pseuds/rinthegreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The red string of fate binds two soul mates together on a level which can't be seen by the naked eye.  Science has now allowed humans to change their fate by choosing who they wish to tie their string to.  At the age of twelve, before he leaves for Australia, Rin wants to bind himself to Haru, but Haru refuses and he finds himself bound to Makoto instead.  That well-intended event shapes the rest of their lives.  MakoRin</p>
            </blockquote>





	String of Fate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [isuilde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/isuilde/gifts).
  * Inspired by [His Fate, Tinted Red](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1662752) by [isuilde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/isuilde/pseuds/isuilde). 



> First filled prompt from the Random Hat Prompts. Number 8 wrote:  
> "A makorin would be nice. Definitely not enough when compared to mh or rh. And well, you write them so interesting. I would love it"  
> Hope this was what you were looking for number 8. 
> 
> I tried a new style of writing just for this fic.

            The idea was simple at first really.  The myth of the red string of fate had been around for centuries.  The only reason it took so long was because mankind didn’t have the technology to do it, or so they learned in school.  Rin finds it romantic, but Haru finds it boring, so they don’t talk about it again.

            The idea is thus: you and your one true love bind yourselves to each other forever.  When one person is in pain – physical or emotional – the other feels it and takes half the pain onto themselves.  Lovers become more in tune with each other, stay together, and live longer than they would have otherwise.  It’s said that you and your beloved can practically read each other’s minds once you’re bound.

            Teenagers, of course, abuse it.  Some doctors take advantage of this, charging them more money than they should just so their parents don’t find out.  They think they’re in love; they want to be stamped to their one and only forever.  Only later do they learn how bad of an idea it is.

            Rin’s twelve when he wants to do it.  _Haru_ , he says one evening after they finish practice at the Iwatobi Swim Club.  _Let’s bind ourselves to each other.  That way nothing can come between us, even when I leave._

            Haru rejects him, of course.  He says something about how stupid it is to tie your fate to someone else’s and walks home.  Makoto hangs back though.  _I’ll bind myself to you_ , he says.  _That way if something happens to you I can relay the information to Haru, and if something happens to Haru I’ll pinch myself right here real hard._   He demonstrates on his forearm.

            Rin is unsure, but they’re friends and that’s probably better than him and Haru anyway so he goes through with it.  They do it just before the relay, and it only stings a little.  The woman tells them that they are a great match.  _Extremely compatible_.  It’s the only reason she agrees to do it for them at such a young age.  They agree not to tell Haru about it just yet and only exchange an awkward hug goodbye before Rin flies away into the sunset.

            The problem with doing it right before Rin leaves is that it doesn’t give either of them a chance to tune their feelings.  Sometimes Rin stubs his toe, and it doesn’t hurt as much as it should.  More often though, he finds himself sinking into a depression which never goes past a certain level, and he has to remind himself it’s because Makoto is sharing the burden.  He never feels anything come in from Makoto’s side, and he wonders if the other regrets the binding to him and resents him for it.

            He doesn’t tell Makoto when he comes back that winter, but he can’t control his emotions from crossing over the border when he loses the race to Haru.  Makoto shows up to his house the next day, but he pretends to be sick and his parents send him away.  Rin gets better at controlling his emotions internally after that.

            The proof it worked comes when he runs into them at the old club.  Makoto looks so surprised to see him that he knows the other couldn’t read his nervousness about coming back.  He still feels guilty for putting him through those feelings for all those years, though, so he pushes his emotions down and ignores Makoto’s existence.  Beating Haru is more important anyway.

            Then they’re all friends again, but he and Makoto don’t talk about it.  Sometimes he sees Makoto watching him out of the corner of his eye, but he doesn’t say anything.  Rin can’t keep his eyes off Makoto either. 

            The first time they talk about it again is when Rin’s shoulder pops out of place one practice.  He’s sitting in the Samezuka nurse’s office when Haru marches in, looking uncharacteristically irritated and lectures him on how irresponsible binding himself to Makoto was.  Especially since they barely even talk.  Makoto calls him that night and apologizes for telling Haru.   _My shoulder stopped working and he didn’t know what was happening.  I had to explain before he dragged me to a hospital._

            It’s a relief to have Haru know.  More because it forces Rin and Makoto to talk about it.  They go out for coffee and decide that being bound isn’t so bad on the condition they hang out, just the two of them, once a week.  It’s like a locked gate has been opened.  Suddenly Rin can feel Makoto’s amusement at Nagisa and Rei’s antics, concern for Haru’s well-being, and nervousness about meeting with his teacher.

            God does he love that.

            Prompted by Makoto’s boldness, Rin opens the door he had shut, sending his own feelings and emotions back to the other.  In a way, it’s almost a form of communication.  Rin soothes Makoto’s nerves by sending his happiness at Sousuke joining the relay, and Makoto returns his own feelings of pride in him.

            It doesn’t take long for Rin to realize he’s fallen in love with Makoto.  The knowledge hits during one of their weekly hangouts.  Makoto’s smiling and telling him about how Nagisa pranked Gou and Rin suddenly thinks ‘wow I’m in love with this boy.’  He gets scared and shuts the connection immediately.  Makoto looks at him in concern.  _Are you alright?  What’s wrong?_   And Rin’s too scared to answer, so he locks that feeling away and carefully cracks open the connection again. 

_It’s nothing._

             He keeps it hidden well for the rest of the season, only passing more innocent emotions over.  Makoto seems to notice, because his feelings come over less too.  But that’s a good thing because he’s probably in love with Haru anyway and Rin shouldn’t hold him back.  So everything seems fine for a while.

            Gou starts dating Seijuro and tells him about it.  Rin complains all the next week to Makoto until he says _why don’t you just go hang out with them?_   It’s a good idea, and he can’t find any counter argument, so that weekend he takes the train out to Seijuro’s university to meet them. 

             He’s travelling alone on the train, surrounded by hundreds of strangers when it happens.  One minute he’s standing there, listening to his music calmly and the next he’s collapsed on the ground, his muscles seizing as people panic around him.  He’s not sure what’s happening; all he can feel is paralyzing pain coursing through every muscle of his body.  He’s vaguely aware that he’s being carried before another wave of pain hits and his vision goes red.

             Rin comes back to himself sometime later.  He’s lying on a bed he recognizes as his own, and Sousuke is sitting across the room staring at the ground.  He looks serious.  _What’s happening?_   Rin asks.  His tongue feels thick and too heavy.  He tries to sit up, but everything hurts.

             The look Sousuke gives him is accusatory.  _Haru told me._   That could mean anything, and Rin’s having difficulty focusing on the scene, so he waits.  _Why you would bind yourself to someone for such idiotic reasons is beyond me._   Rin wants to tell him that he was young; he was only twelve when they did it, but his mouth is stopped by more than pain.  Suddenly, he’s terrified out of his mind.  There aren’t any new sensations from Makoto, and he doesn’t want to know why.

_There’s been an accident_.

             Rin’s world crashes around him.

             Despite his cramped muscles, he rips himself out of bed and starts running down the hallway.  He barely makes it halfway before he collapses again.  This time it’s in his head, and there’s a feeling of something being taken away from him.  Sousuke catches up in no time.  _Please_ , Rin begs, _take me to him._

             In the end Sousuke has to carry him.  He thinks they take a taxi and would normally protest because of the cost, but he selfishly keeps his mouth shut.  The connection to Makoto is flickering in and out and he can barely remember to keep breathing.  Lights flicker past his vision and he briefly wonders what time it is.  The thought passes as another wave of nausea hits him, and Rin pukes into the bag Sousuke provides.

            Haru is already there of course.  He doesn’t even look surprised to see Sousuke walk in carrying Rin in his arms.  Rei and Nagisa are sitting next to Gou and Seijuro wearing four matching expressions of concern.  Gou runs up to him and starts fussing over him, asking if he’s alright and other questions Rin can’t answer right now.

            He’s saved by an ER nurse coming out and seeing him in Sousuke’s arms.  _Is it him?_   She asks Haru, who just nods, and the next thing Rin knows he’s on a bed whipping down the hallway.  He almost wishes he could’ve brought Sousuke or Haru or even Gou with him, but in a way he’s glad they can’t join.  Halls of white streak by faster than he can count or even see, and Rin lets his eyes close.  That causes some alarm to the nurses around him and they shout things to each other before wheeling him into a new room, and Rin can **feel** him.

             He opens his eyes and glances over.  There’s a pane of glass between them as well as an army of doctors performing surgery on his Makoto.  Slowly, carefully, he sits up and presses his forehead against the glass.  He doesn’t need to see them to know what’s happening, but he doesn’t take his eyes off them.

             Someone inside is keeping an eye on him too, because when they accidentally brush against Makoto’s kidney and Rin doubles over, they all stop and try again.  The next few hours are a blur of much of the same.  A nurse talks to him and explains the feeling of loss is from the anesthesia, not an indication of Makoto’s current state, but Rin knows better.  He can feel him through the drugs, but every now and then Makoto flickers in and out of being.  Those moments are the most painful of all and leave Rin panting against the trashcan, unable to expel anything more from his body. 

             But if this is what it costs to keep Makoto alive then it’s worth it.

             The nurse tells him that if it weren’t for their bond, he would’ve died before they could even get him into the hospital.  _Incredibly lucky a bond made so young worked out so well_ , she says.  Rin doesn’t respond and she finally leaves.

             Makoto stabilizes sometime later, and the army of doctors takes him away somewhere else.  No one comes to fetch Rin, and no one tells him where Makoto is, so he gets up and follows the connection as best he can.  He’s still having trouble walking and has to clutch onto the walls for support, but no one stops him and somehow he makes it.

             Makoto’s lying on the bed hooked up to all kinds of equipment Rin doesn’t understand.  He hears the steady beeping that tells him Makoto’s heart is still beating and sees a mask over his face that’s probably helping him breathe and that’s all he needs to know.  There’s a chair sitting next to his bed, probably meant for him to sit on, but he bypasses it to join Makoto on the bed.  He sits down and looks over at Makoto.

             He’s paler than usual and has a light sheen of sweat over his brow.  Rin brushes it off, and his heart nearly stops when Makoto’s eyes flutter.  He freezes, but the eyes never open fully and Rin doesn’t know if he should be disappointed or relieved about it.  He moves back to the chair just in case, but scoots it close to Makoto’s bed.  The beeping and mechanical breaths are somewhat comforting and soon he bows his head and falls asleep.

_Rin_.  His own name wakes him up, and he looks up to see Haru standing there, staring down at him.  A blanket is tossed at him.  _Put this on.  You’re worrying Gou._   He wants to ask if Makoto’s woken up yet, if there’s any change, but Haru answers him before he can ask.  _He’s been like this since we got in.  Visiting hours have ended.  I have to go._   And Rin feels regret, because people who have tied their red strings to each other have visitation rights but Haru, who has been so close with Makoto for so long, doesn’t.  _I’m so sorry,_ he says, and Haru shakes his head.  _It’s alright_ , he assures as he leaves.

             Rin can’t sleep anymore, though.  He wishes he hadn’t napped earlier, but it’s a little late for that now so he just watches Makoto’s chest rise and fall with every breath.  The rhythm changes slightly, and he feels a tug on the connection.  Rin sits up very still, not wanting to be caught staring when Makoto wakes up.  He’s still not sure what to say; if he should confess or not.

_Haru?_   Rin’s heart sinks like a stone, and his wall is up before Makoto can even correct himself.  _Rin?_   He looks up and puts on his most convincing smile, because Makoto can’t know how that one word hurt him.  Not after what he’d just been through.

_You should rest_ , he says instead.  He sees the moment the events that brought them here return to Makoto.  He takes off the mask and sits up, already apologizing, and Rin has to push him back down so he doesn’t hurt himself any more.  Makoto asks what happened, and Rin tells him what he knows.  _You were crossing the street and a car ran a red.  Haru called the ambulance._   Everything sounds so muffled and wrong in his ears, but Makoto can’t know how it affected Rin.  It wouldn’t be fair.

             But Makoto knows.  Of course he knows.  _You saved my life._   He didn’t; Haru did.  Rin repeats that Haru was the one to call the ambulance and pull Makoto off the road before he could get hit a second time.  Rin had nothing to do with it.  _The bond.  It saved my life.  Thank you, Rin._   And then he smiles and Rin knows he’s screwed because he’s never getting over Makoto, and he doesn’t know how much longer he can hide it from him.

             He doesn’t stay the night again, leaving with Haru while Makoto remains in the hospital to recover.  Once Makoto is discharged, the feelings stop rushing over to him again, and Rin thinks he did something wrong.  Makoto found out about his feelings and is disgusted with it.  He doesn’t try to contact Makoto, and Makoto doesn’t try to contact him either. 

             Rin makes it onto the Japan National Swim Team and starts training with them before he even graduates.  He goes to every practice and his times have improved, but the coach pulls him aside and asks where all his fire has gone.  Rin replies with something about graduation approaching and the coach drops it, but he plasters a smile on his face before practice every day after that.

             It’s a little while before he gets a text from Makoto, and when he does, his heart sinks.  _We need to talk.  Coffee?_   That can’t mean anything good.  He replies positively, and the next day they’re sitting inside a small café in Tokyo sipping at their coffee and not looking at each other.  Makoto’s the one who breaks the silence first.

_I talked with some doctors.  There’s a way to break the bond._

             Any hope Rin had of Makoto meeting to say he wanted to go back to how things were before disappear along with his breath and heartbeat.  He must’ve responded, but he’s not sure what he said.  Whatever it was results in Makoto passing over a sheet of paper with the information all written out on it.  The surgery is expensive and irreversible, but Makoto promises to pay him back in time.

             He doesn’t want to do it, but he finds himself meeting with the same doctor from all those years ago anyway.  She looks surprised to see them.  _But you were so compatible,_ she argues.  They both shrug, and she makes them do individual interviews with her.  That’s the part that scares Rin the most.  He can barely sit still while he waits for Makoto to finish and the moment he comes out, Rin darts inside.

_Do you want to break the bond?_

             It’s the first question she asks him, like a mind reader.  No, he wants to respond, but something stops him.  So instead, he just sits there like a gaping fish.  He can feel the tears already starting to develop.  She sees them too, and Kleenexes appear before his eyes.  _It’s what he wants_ , Rin says, and she nods.

            She lets them go through with the surgery.  They put on the hospital gowns and sit in separate rooms.  Nurses fuss around him and put some weird device on his head.  Rin wonders how Makoto’s doing.  The link is still closed to him though, and now it will never open again.  Finally they’re ready.  The nurses leave and some switch is flipped.

            There’s a white hot, blinding pain, and Rin screams.  Everyone around him panics and then the pain is gone.  _Something’s wrong_ , one of the nurses says.  They readjust the equipment and try again.  The same pain rushes through him.  It feels like someone is trying to rip his very **soul** out of his body.  As if it isn’t bad enough he already has to break the bond with the man he’s in love with.

            _It won’t work_ , the doctor tells him after the third try.  _The bond won’t break._

It’s his fault, he knows.  He doesn’t want the bond gone, so he’s unconsciously resisting it.  He says as much to her, but she shakes her head.  _The resistance isn’t coming from your side_ , she tells him.  And then before he can ask her to explain anymore, she leaves.  Rin sits in there alone, staring at the door and feeling like he’s twelve again.

            He might’ve sat there for a few minutes, or it might’ve been a few hours.  He doesn’t know.  But the door opens some time later, and Makoto comes in looking just as pale and small as he did when the car hit him.  _I’m sorry,_ Rin says before he can speak.  _It’s my fault it won’t break.  I’m sorry._

            _No,_ Makoto replies without looking at him.  _It’s mine._   But Rin doesn’t know how that can be the case when Makoto’s the one who wanted to break the bond, and he wanted to keep it in the first place.  Makoto doesn’t look at him when he speaks again.  _I love you._

            It repeats in Rin’s head.  _I love you._

_I love you._

“I love you.”

            Color rushes into his world in a way he’d never known before.  Reds are suddenly redder, and greens are suddenly greener.  This must be what people meant when they said love made everything brighter.  He’d been in love for years, but unrequited love wasn’t quite the same.

            “What?”  He asks, aware that sound is now sharper too.

            “I’m so sorry, Rin.  I know you want to be with Haru, and –“

            “I love you too.”

            He watches as Makoto looks up, mirroring the expression he himself is wearing.  He can tell that Makoto’s world just got more beautiful too.  So he repeats himself: “I love you too, Makoto.  I have for years.”

            “Oh.  Me too.  I mean, I have been since the relay after Australia –“

            “I think it was around the same time for me –“

            “I never thought –“

            “Me neither.”

            They’ve been walking to each other the entire time, and at Rin’s last words they finally reach the middle.  Makoto wraps his arms around him, and Rin clings to him for support.  They’ve been in love for years and they’re still wearing their stupid gear for the surgery they’re never gonna have, but all they do for a while is hold each other.

            “Do you want to start over?”  Makoto asks, his voice muffled by Rin’s gown.

            He nods.  “Yes, please.”  That’s probably all he can manage right now.  His inner romantic sap is taking over, and he’s afraid he’ll start crying from happiness if he says anything else.

            They finally release each other and walk to the changing rooms to get back into their normal clothes.  Simultaneously, they stop when they reach the door.  It’s Makoto who speaks first.  “I’ll meet you out here.”

            He can’t hold back the romantic side of himself anymore.  “And then we can start our life together?”

            Makoto smiles at him and squeezes his hand.  “I think we already have, don’t you?”

            The rush of happiness that floods him isn’t all his own.  Rin gasps.  “You opened the link again?”

            Makoto’s already walking into his changing room.  He looks back at Rin just before he closes the door.  “Of course.  No reason to keep it closed against my soul-mate.”  The door closes and Rin thinks that Haru couldn’t have been more wrong about them binding themselves together.  They were clearly meant to be, he thinks and he sends that feeling over to Makoto.

**Author's Note:**

> Want your Free! prompt filled? Fill the comment box here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F9NTSCQ
> 
> The survey refers to my currently ongoing fic "Eternally" which can be found here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1958904/chapters/4236957


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